Walsall went into this game off the back of two impressive wins that saw us into the second round of the cup and flying high in the league. However, the trip to Boundary Park was sure to be another tough challenge for Dean Smith’s squad.
The game began, similar to Port Vale, in a slow fashion,
with few chances created for either side. The promising aspect was that the
Walsall defence looked stronger, especially in the air, with Downing and Butler
cutting out most aerial threats. James Chambers also played well, dominating
against the Oldham winger and helped to stop any clear cut chances being
created.
As the game progressed Oldham did get into the game more,
but ironically it was this that allowed us to also find our feet more. The
counter-attacking side we had seen at Vale Park on Tuesday night. On the 24
Minute mark a lovely swift move started by James Chambers lead to a cross in
from the right hand side. The ball somehow found its way past several players
to the feet of inform man James Baxendale who smashed home another great goal
from inside the area.
This goal seemed to deflate the Latics, and it would have
been nice to see us go at the game more to try and find a killer goal, but really
we sat back and seemed happy to let the game run to half time at just 1-0.
Oldham did try to take advantage and built up a few chances through corners but
didn’t really threaten.
H/T: Oldham Athletic 0 Walsall 1
I would like to now write about an exciting second half;
however the stats really sum it up, with just one shot on target for each side
it really did turn into a lightly poor game of football. Both defences
dominated and we created very little in way of attacking play.
This though really isn’t too bad, and in many ways can be
judged as the perfect away performance, snatching a goal and then killing the
pace of the game. It was nice to see how versatile was can be, and we still did
see some nice football in the build up to our goal.
F/T: Oldham Athletic 0 Walsall 1 (Baxendale 25')
ATT: 4,538
REF: Gary Sutton
My MOTM: James Chambers
Overall it was pleasing just to see our winning streak
continue, regardless of the performance, and with our best start to a season
since Richard Money’s championship winning season, who knows what this season
may hold.
By: Sam Wright